An investigation was opened in France against X (Ex-Twitter), suspected of having biased his algorithm said that the Paris prosecutor in a press release.
It indicates that the combat section of the cyber crime of the Office of the Prosecutor of Paris received two reports in January 2025, respectively of a deputy and a senior official of a French public institution.
These reports reported the alleged use of the X algorithm (ex-twitter) for foreign interference purposes.
An investigation was entrusted to the National Gendarmerie against Network X, as a legal person, and against the “natural persons” who direct it, said Laure Beccuau in a press release, without citing the name of its owner, Elon Musk.
“True danger to our democracies”
The first came from the macronista deputy of Côtes-D’Armor specialized in these questions, Éric Bothorel. He warned the Prosecutor’s Office for “recent changes in algorithm X, as well as an apparent interference in its administration since its acquisition of Elon Musk” in 2022.
He underlined a “reduction in the diversity of votes and options”, a platform that moves away from the objective of “guaranteeing a safe and respectful environment for all”, a “lack of clarity in terms of the criteria that led to changes in algorithms and moderation decisions”, as well as “Elon Musk personal interventions in the management of its platform.”
According to the information of the Pato chained in February, the second report came from a director of cybersecurity in the public service that, according to the reports, had reported “an important modification in the algorithm used by the X platform that today offers many hateful, racist, anti-LGBT+, homophobic political content and, therefore, aim at siasting the Democratic debate in France.”
The Prosecutor’s Office, which had confirmed at the beginning of February when studying these reports, said in its press release on Friday having opened this procedure “based on verifications, contributions from researchers and French elements provided by several public institutions.”
The survey was entrusted to the General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie, and is related “in particular” to the following crimes: alteration of the operation of an automated processing system in the organized band, as well as fraudulent data data of an automated processing system in organized band.
Another survey at European level
The head of X France, Laurent Buanec, had assured January 22 in his social network that “X has strict, clear and public rules aimed at protecting the platform from hate speeches”, “fighting misinformation” and that his algorithm “is built to avoid offering hateful content.”
The social network is the issue of other surveys, especially at European level. According to an article in the New York Times published in April, the European Union regulator prepares “important sanctions” against the Elon Musk platform to break the Digital Services Law (DSA), regulations against illicit content and misinformation.
Source: BFM TV
